


Ornamental Protections

by Aeshna_cyanea



Series: The Consequences Of Wrath [3]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 08:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13586580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeshna_cyanea/pseuds/Aeshna_cyanea
Summary: Lucifer has a little gift for Maze.





	Ornamental Protections

"What's this?" Maze eyed the wooden box in Lucifer's hands suspiciously. It appeared to consist of three separate boxes that were stacked one on top of the other, with a lid closing the uppermost one. The whole thing was made of some dark, high quality wood and decorated with swirling, abstract engravings. A beautiful, elegant piece, clearly the work of a master craftsman or woman.

The devil smiled engagingly as he held it out to her. "Just a little gift for you. I hope you'll like it."

Since Lucifer was not in the habit of giving her random boxes - no matter how pretty they were - Maze carefully lifted the lid and took a look inside. Nestled on a bedding of black velvet was a set of eight objects that were clearly made from gold. She frowned as she studied them. Strange, curved shapes, hollow, open at one end and tapering to a point at the other. They were rather delicate, an openwork filigree of swirls and curves, similar to the engravings on the box. Two of them were slightly larger than the rest. Definitely jewelry, but for the moment, Maze couldn't think of any body part where they would fit.

"Pretty, but what are they?"

Lucifer turned the smile up a notch. "Protection. For you to wear, and me to enjoy."

She needed a moment to grasp the implications of his answer. As soon as she did, she gave the devil a death glare that wiped the smile off his face and actually made him take a small step backwards.

"No, Lucifer." She crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself from hitting him. "I told you, I am not putting some sort of sheaths on my wing claws, just because you're a wimp who can't handle a few scratches."

"I'm not a wimp just because I don't enjoy being flayed alive!" Lucifer protested hotly.

"I just gave you a few, small scratches. Nowhere near a flaying. Stop being such a drama llama."

The devil stared incredulously at his demon. "What did you just call me?"

Maze smirked. "A drama llama." Grinning widely at his flabbergasted look, she chose to explain, "The little human taught me that one."

"Mazikeen." There was a distinct warning growl in Lucifer's voice. "I am not a drama llama, or whatever other ridiculous insults you can dream up. And I wasn't referring to the scratches you gave me during our recent getaway." He scowled when she arched an eyebrow at him. "You want us to train together, don't you? To practice wing-to-wing combat, I think you said?"

She nodded and he went on, sounding triumphant, "That's what I was talking about when I said I don't want to be flayed alive!"

Now it was the demon's turn to scowl. "Seriously? I don't need claw sheaths for that. I can train with you without doing any real damage to you. You know that, right? You know I would never hurt you seriously."

Lucifer opened his mouth to reply, but then he paused and didn't say anything, clearly searching for the right words. Maze's expression fell. "Don't you trust me?"

She had meant it to be a challenge and an accusation, but it didn't come out that way. To her own ears, it sounded pleading, her hurt feelings clearly audible. Pathetic. She winced, wanting to turn away, to hide, but she knew that would give away even more.

Lucifer gaped at her for a moment, and then finally found his voice. "Of course I trust you, Mazikeen! I know you'd never hurt me seriously. That's why I want you to wear protection!"

Maze frowned, though she was slightly mollified by his affirmation of his trust in her. "You're not making any sense."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Looking around briefly, Lucifer set the box down on a nearby table and then stepped closer to his demon, gently taking her hands in his.

"I know you would never hurt me seriously. And that means if we do this wing-to-wing training you want, you'll hold back so you don't hurt me with your claws. And I don't want you to have to do that." He smiled softly at the questioning look Maze was giving him. "I know you, Maze. You don't do things by halves. If you set out to learn how to fight with your wings, you won't stop until you're the best at it. And for that, you need to have someone you can practice with, someone who will be a challenge for you. I can do that, but it's no use if you'll pull your punches because you're worried about hurting me. But if you wear sheaths on your claws so you can't seriously hurt me, you won't have to hold back."

"Let me get this right." Maze stared at him with a mix of surprise, confusion, and wariness, but underneath Lucifer detected the first stirrings of excitement. "You want me to really kick your ass, with no holding back?"

“Well,” he gave her a deprecating smile, “I would appreciate it if you could refrain from tearing off any limbs or shattering bones. Those are always such a nuisance to heal.”

His demon laughed. “I guess I can agree to that, as long as you do the same.”

“Of course, my darling. And other than that,” he shrugged, “I don’t mind getting some bruises and scrapes if it’s for a good reason. And the sheaths should allow you to use your claws without doing worse damage. No accidental disemboweling.”

“Oh, do you think I could do that?” Maze’s tone was far too enthusiastic for Lucifer’s comfort. Her eyes were sparkling, an expression of unholy glee spreading across her features as she contemplated the possibility. “You know, just slash and splat?”

In a split second, she unfurled her wings and brought the left one forward in a slashing motion, the razor-sharp claws slicing through the air less than an inch away from Lucifer’s shirt front. He jumped back with a cry of alarm.

“Bloody Hell, Maze!”

She rolled her eyes at him. “What?”

He opened his mouth to argue with her, then paused and shut it again. Any argument would be futile, and serve only to make them both angry.

Maze gave him a triumphant smirk, and then went over to the table and lifted the lid of the box. She studied the golden sheaths for a moment before carefully lifting one out of the box and sliding it onto the big wrist claw of her left wing. It fit perfectly. She quickly put on the others, and then turned towards him and began moving her wings, cautiously at first, then more vigorously when it was clear that the sheaths weren’t going to fall off easily.

Lucifer smiled as he watched Maze move, admiring her natural grace. The ornaments fit perfectly and looked just as lovely on her wings as he had imagined.

“Beautiful.”

His demon gave him a brilliant smile, preening under his appreciative gaze. Then she tilted her head and looked at him quizzically. “They’re exactly the right sizes and shapes. How did you do that?”

“Ah, that.” Lucifer’s smile became somewhat sheepish. “When I went to Aline and discussed it with her - charming woman, by the way, you’d like her, she collects knives, too -“he grinned when he saw his demon perk up at that, “- anyway, when she and I discussed it, the problem of fitting the sheaths to your claws did come up. I explained to her that it would be a problem since I wanted them to be a surprise, and in the end, she came up with an elegant solution. She gave me this handy little 3D scanner. I took a couple of scans of your claws, she used them to make models of them, and fitted the sheaths that way.”

“And when exactly did you make those scans?”

“The evening after our first outing with the little terror.”

“Ah.” Maze nodded, a look of understanding spreading across her face. “No wonder I didn’t notice anything.”

The first babysitting date with Detective Decker’s offspring had turned into a long afternoon spent mostly flying. By the time they had returned the girl to her mother, she hadn’t been the only one who was tired. Maze had quickly fallen asleep with her wings spread out over his bed. And he had seized the opportunity, before joining her in blissful oblivion.

Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he found her studying the sheaths thoughtfully.

“They’re very pretty, but far too delicate to serve as protection when we’re sparring.”

“No, they’re not meant as serious protections. They and the second set are more or less purely ornamental.”

Maze gave him a look that said everything which could be said. They both knew he enjoyed giving her jewelry. She had the collection to prove it. Lucifer acknowledged the unspoken words with a grin.

“The third set is meant for our training sessions.”

Intrigued, Maze returned to the box and lifted the first compartment, revealing a second set of sheaths, this one worked in silver. She noted with interest that while the designs on them were similar to the first set, they were not identical. Where the swirls and spirals on the golden sheaths were all smooth, some of them on this set had beautiful patterns worked into them. She studied them for a few moments, gently stroking a fingertip over their surface, before lifting this compartment, too.

The last set was completely different. Instead of gleaming metal and delicate filigree, thick, sturdy leather had been used. The workmanship was still exquisite, though. The dark red leather had been embossed with designs that were once again similar in style to the ones on the other two sets.

“They’re gorgeous! Thank you, Lucifer!”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down until their lips met, kissing him deeply. At the same time, she brought her wings forward, wrapping them around him, cocooning them both in their scaly membranes.

Lucifer hummed happily. In the short time since Maze had gotten her wings, he had developed a decided fondness for being covered or wrapped up in them. It made him feel protected and cared for. Safe. He strongly suspected that Maze felt the same way about his own wings.

He slowly pulled away from their kiss and smiled down at his demon. “I’ve cleared things up with our landlord, by the way. Or rather, our former landlord.”

Maze raised a questioning eyebrow, making him grin. “It was easier to persuade him to sell me the whole building. I had to promise him never to sell it to anyone else, though. He was quite insistent about that, even went so far and had his lawyer draw up some sort of contract. Cheryl is taking care of all the formalities.”

“So you’re planning to keep this place for the rest of eternity?”

Lucifer looked carefully at his demon. Her tone had been casual, mildly curious, but he could hear the unasked question beneath the actual words.

“I’m not going back to Hell, Maze.”

She remained silent as he paused for a moment, hesitating over his next words. Mazikeen meant so much to him. A life without her by his side had become practically unimaginable. But he had to give her the choice.

“I know you miss it. For you, Hell was your home, and you were happy there.” He sighed, then looked her in the eyes, completely serious. “Now that you have your own wings, you don’t need me anymore to return there. I’ll teach you how to do it.”

Even the thought of her leaving him was almost unbearable. Lucifer looked away, not wishing to see her happiness at the idea of going home. A warm hand grasped his chin firmly and forced him to meet her gaze again.

“Lucifer.” Maze’s expression could only be called fondly exasperated. “I’m not leaving you.”

He sagged in relief, leaning heavily against her as the tension drained from his body. His demon scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“You can be really dense sometimes. Yes, Hell is my home. Yes, I was happy there. _With you._ ”

Lucifer stared at her, eyes wide, hope surging through him.

“That’s the important part. I was happy there with you. Without you…” she trailed off and shrugged, the gesture saying everything that needed to be said. Hell without him would be simply Hell.

“So if you’re staying here, I’m staying, too.” A smirk curled up the corners of her mouth. “After all, someone has to protect you and save your ass.”

Wordlessly, Lucifer leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, pouring everything he was feeling into the kiss. Maze responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck, her fingers sliding through his hair, her wings tightening around him.

The sound of the elevator bell interrupted them. Maze immediately tucked away her wings and pulled out of his embrace, turning to face the potential threat. The doors slid open to reveal a woman, tall, blonde, rather disheveled looking.

Lucifer felt his demon tense up next to him. A quick glance down revealed that she had her knives in her hands, ready for an attack. He motioned for her to wait and approached the elevator.

“Anything I can do for you?”

The woman took a staggering step forward, breathing harshly.

“Lucifer.”

Shock filled him as he realized who was standing in front of him. “Mom.”

“Help me.” And with that, she collapsed into his arms, unconscious.

Maze was by his side in an instant, holding up her knives and looking at him inquiringly. He waved at her to put them away, earning a disgusted snort. Lucifer shot her an irritated look, and then stared down at the woman lying limply in his arms. He heaved a deep sigh.

“Oh bloody Hell.”

  


**Author's Note:**

> Yes, evil cliffhanger, I know. And I don't know yet if there will be a sequel to it. 
> 
> I'm still hoping to write about the babysitting date with Trixie, though.


End file.
